Is He listening?

Have you ever had the experience of asking God why something is happening and not received an answer? Have you ever doubted that God hears your prayers?

It is hard, when it seems as if we have not received a reply from God, to believe that we have been heard. So what do we do when God seems to be silent? Here are some ideas.

1 Remind yourself of what Scripture says about prayer:

"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:12-13

Scripture tells us that God listens, so when it seems as if He is not listening or responding, remind yourself of the truth. God is listening. In fact, according to Peter, "... the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer." (1 Peter 3:12). God is actively listening to us; He is attentive to our cries.

Peter tells us that God's eyes "are on the righteous". "Righteous" does not mean that we ourselves have to be perfect, otherwise all of us would be excluded. But we are righteous, because as Christians we have been justified (made right with God) by faith. When we are justified by faith the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us; God looks on us and see the righteousness of Christ and therefore we can be assured that God hears our prayers.

2 Notice that God, speaking through Jeremiah, tells us to seek Him "with all your heart". So if God seems silent, ask yourself how much you are seeking Him; how fervent are your prayers? Are you setting aside time to pray, or are you throwing up brief prayers when you have time? Perhaps God is using silence to draw you closer to Him; it is not that He has not heard your prayers, but that he wants to hear more of them. Spend more time with God, let your prayer life go deeper, allow yourself to be drawn into the trinity. Seek him with all your heart.

3 When you sit or kneel or stand to pray, what else is going through your mind? Is there some sin that is coming between you and God? Sometimes we cannot hear Him because our sense of guilt is too great. If you are aware of something that is hindering your relationship with God, confess it and repent. Or if you are aware of a blockage, but do not know what it is, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you.

4 Ask yourself whether God is responding but you don't like his answer. We have all had the experience of asking various friends what we should do about a situation. We keep on asking until we find a friend who agrees with our preferred course of action, even when we know deep down that we should take another path. God does not always answer in the way that we want, but be assured that His way is best: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) Be open to hearing God's different way for you.

5 Exercise patience. Usually when I pray, I want an answer immediately. I hear people talking about how to pray for a breakthrough; I pray the prayer they suggest; I sit back and.....nothing happens! God is working His purposes out in His time. That means that sometimes we have to wait on the Lord. We are His children not the other way round. We cannot tell God what to do or when to do it.

6 Remember that every day as Christians we are in a war. We are in a spiritual battle. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12) The devil will do everything in his power to convince you that there is no point in praying, that God is not listening and He certainly won't respond. These are lies from the devil and we need to take up the sword of the Spirit and fight against these lies: ""Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)

What the devil wants most of all is for Christians to become lukewarm and apathetic. Expect spiritual opposition as you grow in Christ, put on the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and use it to fight for the cause of Christ. He is worthy.

God is always listening; he is always attentive to the prayers of His children. Seek Him with all your heart. Confess your sins. Open your mind to his amazing plans. Be patient and fight against the lies of the devil. There WILL be an answer to your prayers.